As soon as you interact with one of our team members, you will know clearly why it's different here. Warm, accessible, and knowledgeable, they are the compelling reason why bClear benefits is the clear choice for employee benefits.

Insurance and health benefits are in Aly's blood—his whole family has had careers in the industry. After receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree from Simon Fraser University, and a Master of Health Administration degree from the University of British Columbia, Aly went on to work at Pacific Blue Cross (PBC). During his time at PBC, Aly worked in several different departments, getting a taste of every aspect of the insurance machine.

With a passion for helping people, Aly was always destined to work in the health industry but prefers the benefits sector rather than primary care. Aly volunteers often and feels a large sense of pride when helping others in any way possible. His proudest accomplishments to date are marrying the love of his life and having two amazing children. By how well his parents raised him and his siblings, Aly is focused on providing a beautiful life for his family.

Aly's days would not be complete without coffee, in fact they wouldn't even start without it! If not at work, Aly can be found watching football, playing fantasy football, or traveling—either to Hawaii where he has visited every year for each of the past 9 years, or to Seattle to watch his beloved Seahawks!

There is no individual in our office more well-rounded than Art, which serves him well in his role. He is our office diplomat and in a previous life carried the moniker ‘Articulate Art'. He has a forever twinkle in his eye and is genuinely interested in sharing conversations and stories with others. If you are at an event and see a laughing crowd, there is a good likelihood that is where you will find Art.

His breadth of experience in the employee benefits industry covers over 19 years and includes sales, marketing, underwriting, product and systems development and finance and administration. In the office, he will drop whatever he is working on to answer questions or have a discussion. He is always available and always has a smile on his face.

His negotiation skills are tested daily by his three sons – all are or soon to be teenagers. This helps keep him sharp. Most of his free time is spent driving them to and from soccer practise and carrying groceries. Family vacations will usually include one of the boys participating in a tournament.

Like Alice in wonderland, Charlene fell into the rabbit-hole (of insurance) shortly after university, as she was looking to get those student debts paid off as fast as she could. This would also allow her to indulge in her love of travel. If there is a beach and the sun is shining, Charlene wants to visit. If there is copious amounts of food - even better! Charlene's love of good food and travel likely comes from her early days, growing up in multiple countries - Bahrain, India, Kuwait and Canada.

Charlene's raison d'etre is helping people, which is why she enjoys working within the insurance industry. She takes pride in her work, knowing that at the end of the day, through employee benefits, the world is better for workers and their families. She has a Bachelor's Degree from Simon Fraser University, a TESOL Diploma from Vancouver Community College and also holds her CEBS primer and GBA I.

The minute you meet Colleen, you sense that she's grounded and reliable. She would be someone you could turn to if you ever got in trouble, or if you really needed to hear the truth no matter what. It's no surprise that many people count on Colleen to make things right.

Colleen's focus is relationships –with clients, colleagues, friends, family and the world at large. She learned early in her career the importance of first and lasting impressions, and works hard at creating the right client experience in her role at bClear benefits. We love having her in our midst – her positive energy, her wit, and great sense of style are just some of the things that make her a class act.

If Colleen could change something about the world, it would be to teach people to be a bit more patient. She would encourage you to stop to smell the dahlias....and then talk about it with a friend. Friends and family and spending quality time nurturing relationships are of high importance to Colleen. She takes pride in watching her three kids grow and learn and is inspired by their creativity.

If you want to make a change to your plan, Colleen is the person to talk to. She is also the person to talk to if you want to speak Portuguese.

Our marketing and communications guru likes to pop up all over the office with ideas and to get her hand into whatever happens to be going on. She graduated with a Public Relations Diploma from Grant MacEwan University College in Edmonton many moons ago and has been on the run ever since. Literally--she is a runner and completing a marathon is one of her greatest chest puffing moments.

Her career has taken her many places, including a stint in London, England. There, she learned the difference that a word can make when she discovered that pants are generally worn under trousers. Finding just the right word for clarity is a battle that she fights for us every day.

Outside of work, Cynthia is determined to become a surfer chick and to learn French.

We would describe our number cruncher, David Main, as a ‘strong, silent type’. You never know what he might be thinking! David looks and acts exactly how you would picture an accountant would be – all serious and analytical with an extra sharp pencil in his pocket ‘just in case’. But then every once in a while, he comes out with some very insightful and often-funny one-liners that are so unexpected, you fall off your chair!

Like many strong and silent types that you may know, he holds great influence with those around him. For example, since he comes into the office only a few days a week, he has somehow managed to change the day Patricia brings in her homemade banana bread to a day when he is sure to be around. It’s hard to know what he does for fun, because he's sticking to his 'accountant' cover on this question. However, he has been seen riding his bike to work in the summer, so perhaps there's more to David than he lets on.

Jane hails from the land Downunder. She is our token Australian in the office and is always confusing our staff with her "Aussie-isms”. She has many years of experience as an Executive Assistant and plays a big role in making sure everything in the office is running smoothly, including our CEO!

One of Jane’s many valuable traits is her attention to detail. She is quick to come up with creative ways to put things together in the office and always finds a solution to any problems that arise. Jane’s favourite love is travel and she has spent many years testing foreign waters and airlines to arrive at different destinations. She takes pleasure in being with friends and family and of course testing our office’s chocolate.

Jane has been part of our team since September 2015 and she truly enjoys what she does. Her favourite part about working at bClear benefits is the family-like atmosphere. She admires the level of smarts her colleagues possess and the efficiency and kindness in which it is delivered. She is consistently inspired by knowledge and education and feels a glow of pride when she achieves a goal she has set for herself.

In our office, if you have a question about how things work, chances are that Joanna will be the one with the answer. Weaving her magic, mostly behind the scenes, she develops and manages the processes on everything from the initial quote, through to renewal and from invoicing to accounts receivable. She also plays a dominant role in negotiating with our carriers and in product development. She's one of our best strategic thinkers and is usually steps ahead of everyone else.

Her job sounds very technical, and it is, but at the same time Joanna brings creativity, innovation and passion to chase away any cobwebs that might linger from being part of the insurance world. She has traded in her dull greys, black and white for brighter colours and claims that her fuchsia pants put her in a "bendy” mood.

With the help of her mother, who worked with Mercer, Laura landed in the world of insurance. Beginning in Winnipeg Manitoba, Laura saw herself as a very low stress, caring and helpful individual. After moving to the Vancouver area in 2009, Laura has worked with several companies, in many different positions in the insurance world.

If Laura could change one thing about the world, it would be the ability for everyone to find their passion, live it every day, and live a more joy filled life. It is this kind of caring attitude that allows Laura to thrive in the insurance industry.

If Laura isn't working or out enjoying the beautiful BC scenery, you'll most likely find her binge watching crime shows on Netflix, or staying far away from clowns, mascots and balloons as they terrify her. Laura's new puppy, Charley, is the reason why she is always in a good mood. Constantly walking, hiking or going on road trips bring pleasure to both Laura and Charley.

We like Nina for a lot of reasons, but mostly because chocolate is in her blood having been born in what many consider to be the chocolate capital country of Switzerland and we all love chocolate. She was born there but her parents loved Canada so much they decided to immigrate. Nina grew up in 100 Mile House helping out her painter father painting and restoring log homes.

She fell into the group benefits world through her mother-in-law who was already firmly entrenched. There was probably no one more surprised than Nina to learn that she really loved it – from writing contracts and policies to communicating with clients. She loves new challenges and recently completed her GBA (Group Benefits Associate) designation. Explaining to clients the complicated world of benefits is something that Nina finds rewarding and she welcomes any questions you might have.

The family atmosphere at bClear benefits is what initially attracted her to work with us and what she appreciates from her work environment.Outside of work, you might find Nina hiking with her dogs, mountain biking, or baking. Nina is fluent in Swiss German if you would like to converse with her in a language other than English.

If you have a question about your benefits, Patricia is here to provide a prompt, clear answer and make you feel better about your whole day in the process. She builds such supportive relationships with plan administrators that some of them call just to hear that cheerful, reassuring voice. She also puts her many years of administration experience and insurance knowledge to work ensuring that plans are set up correctly, employees are enrolled properly, and claim issues are resolved with a minimum of fuss.

Around the office, Patricia takes care of her colleagues in many different ways, from providing information and encouragement, to acting as Fire Warden, to baking wonderful banana bread. None of us could imagine the place without her, and we're very glad to hear her say that retirement is still a long way in the future.

How did a dental receptionist graduate from Vancouver Community College become one of the best customer service representatives in the insurance industry? Through a desire to learn, learn, learn! With over 20 years of insurance experience, Tracy is a good resource for our clients; she's willing to answer any questions they throw at her. She is very devoted to her family and carries that into her work by never losing sight of the fact the fact that there is a person or family behind every member ID.

And that family for Tracy is huge! She has two children herself, and is part of a very large extended family that gets together often. In fact, her favourite vacation was when 13 of them went to Mexico together. Tracy's day would not be complete without her tea and coffee. She likes her coffee strong (Editor's note: this gal adds a teaspoon of instant coffee to our regular dark roast blend in the office. I am surprised we don't need to pull her off the ceiling!)

Tracy is fluent in Vietnamese.

Tracy T., Client Services Associate (on leave)

If you are interested in getting a benefits quote, your business will be getting some attention from Tracy. It takes someone who's knowledgeable, organized and, let's face it, a little bit obsessive to do a detailed comparison of benefit plans, analyse employee data, crunch the numbers, and come up with a practical, affordable solution. There is no one-size-fits-all approach in our world.

Fortunately, Tracy enjoys doing detailed work and knows that, behind the numbers, there are actual people who rely on their benefits. To get her head out of the spreadsheets, she plays drums, spends as much time as possible outside, and writes stories. Her latest project is a blog about all the fascinating people she meets on public transit.